You Play?
by Adreus
Summary: AU – "Hah! What a loser – he doesn't even know Fudo-senpai! How is he even allowed to be here?" —Yusei, Judai, and schoolboy starshipping.


**Notes: **As always I'm terrible at writing romance so this is actually friendship. As for the High School AU bit, it's actually a _Japanese high school_, so lots of anime tropes ahead, but I tried to keep it as clichéless and in character as possible. That said, to keep it in character, since we're in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Duel Monsters is alive and well. However, in this story, Duel Monsters isn't anywhere as near as popular as it is in canon – rather, it's a little popular in America, but in Japan it's largely unknown by the main populous.

Anyway, this is probably the first time that I've attempted Judai after/while watching GX, so any concrit, as always, is requested. Mostly on Judai's character, because I know that the plot really has no satisfying conclusion fjaslkfjasfa

Happy Birthday, Ana!

**Disclaimer: **_Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's _and _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX _are property of Kazuki Takahashi; I do not claim any rights.

* * *

><p><em>You Play?<em>

* * *

><p>On the second day of school at Kazuki Private High School, Judai spends the better part of the morning trying to find the most comfortable position in his desk. It's one of those stiff chairs with the attached table extended from the bottom, so there's no arm rest or room for his legs (which, he grumbles about, haven't grown all summer) and to top it off, it's missing part of a leg in both the back and the front, so it's wobbly. Most of the students in class 1-A spend their first period wincing every time there's a noise from the back of the room, and Judai's not even got the decency to be embarrassed, since he doesn't even notice that he's being a nuisance. It lasts for the better part of an hour: Daitokuji-sensei is courteously quiet about it, but about the fiftieth time Judai tilts his chair from up to down, class representative Edo Phoenix remarks loudly, "Sensei, it's difficult to concentrate on the lesson with that distracting noise coming from the back of the room."<p>

Daitokuji-sensei, who hasn't addressed Judai up until now because he knows his family and would feel sheepish telling Judai off on only his second day, sighs and nod's at Edo's comment. "Yuki-kun," he says, clearing his throat first in an attempt to garner the boy's attention (it doesn't work), "Yuki-kun, why don't you switch chairs with the one behind you? Yuko-kun isn't here today, and tomorrow we can get you a different chair."

Judai, for the first time noticing the glares of all his classmates, goes scarlet, chuckles, and stumbles out of his seat as the eyes of the classroom (except for those of Edo Phoenix, who's doodling something in his open notebook) watch him. He picks up his chair and switches with the other one, then sits down and grins stupidly at the class. A few of the guys shake their heads disapprovingly, and the girls make disgusted faces and some whisper to each other their curiousity as to how Judai even managed to get into Kazuki.

"Ah, by the way, Yuki-kun," Daitokuji-sensei says while he has the boy's attention, "Please let me know what club you sign up for before the end of the week." With that he returns to teaching the introduction to mythology, or whatever it is they're supposed to be learning. Judai doesn't know, since he's been too preoccupied to pay proper attention, and now he's got another set of thoughts entirely to occupy him: clubs.

If Judai had his way, he'd join a card game club or a video game club, or anything involving games, actually, as he's exceedingly good at them. But Kazuki is a relatively small school with a tiny pool of afterschool activities to choose from, and the only ones that hold even the smallest sliver of appeal are the dreadfully boring Go and Mahjong clubs, along with the baseball team. Judai's not much into any of them; what he's really a fan of is Duel Monsters, an American collectible card game that he still plays with his friends from primary school. This year, since they're all going to separate schools, they've made plans to meet every day after school at a small café at the edge of town where they're already considered regulars. Manjoume, Asuka, Misawa, and Shou, however, have different school timings than Judai does, and are all let out conveniently around the same time, whereas Judai's school is nice enough to end classes and starts clubs while neighboring schools end for the day. At first, Judai didn't think this would be a problem, but as it turns out a club is required and that'll make him later than he already would be to see his friends and play Duel Monsters, which is a problem: to him, dueling and his friends are a step above schoolwork in priority, even if he's in one of the top private schools in Japan.

"Ahh," he finds himself saying aloud in the middle of class, frustrated, "Isn't there anyway I can get past clubs?" The other students look back at him disapprovingly.

* * *

><p>The answer to all his problems comes to him at lunchtime, while he attempts to eat his bento with one hand and go through his Duel Monsters deck in the other (he's got a match planned against Asuka today, and he doesn't plan on losing). While he's deciding on whether he should keep one of his monsters or switch it out for a trap, he can't help overhearing a conversation that floats into his unsuspecting, innocent ears: three girls, sitting a few seats in front of him, discuss how Judai doesn't belong at Kazuki, how he barely passed the entrance exam, and how he's a big baby for not wanting to join a club. Judai has rebuttals for their words but doesn't have anything to say to them aloud; they're girls, after all, he'll leave them with their useless gossip and go on with his life unchanged. But then one of the girls says something quite interesting and relevant to his interests.<p>

"Though, Fudo-senpai isn't in a club, is he?"

Suddenly, Judai's eyes leave his deck and find the group of girls in front of him. One of them notices his sudden attention and makes a face, lowers her voice so Judai can barely hear her when she says, "Yeah, but Fudo-senpai is different. He's at the top of his class, and he's really cool, unlike Judai." She sends a glare in Judai's general direction to accentuate her point.

The third girl giggles. "He may have just blinked at one of the teachers," she suggests between laughs, which sets the other two off as well. Judai (mistakenly) takes this as his chance to approach them. He saunters over and, what he hopes is casually, says, "Um, hey."

The girls' faces immediately transfigure from smiles and blushes to glares at his appearance. Judai gulps and marches on. "Who is Fudo-senpai?"

They look at him for a good, long moment, as if they're trying to figure out whether he's being serious or not. Apparently, they decide that he is and that he's missed something completely, because they burst into laughter and it's impossible to talk to them after that. Just as they start to calm down and Judai, frowning, tries to ask again, Daitokuji-sensei reenters the classroom and tells his students to settle down, as it's time to get back to work. Judai groans and gets back in his seat while the girls stick their tongues out at him, and one of them says, "Hah! What a loser – he doesn't even know Fudo-senpai! How is he even allowed to be here?"

* * *

><p>By the end of the day, Judai's completely forgotten about clubs and is back in Duel Monsters mode, in full anticipation of his match with Asuka. When the students are dismissed he completely misses Daitokuji-sensei's reminder that he needs to be a member of <em>something <em>by the end of the week and practically leaps out of his chair and sprints down the hallway, forgetting to change his shoes. Then he remembers and sprints back, accidentally knocking into someone who's leaving the locker room and sending all their things flying everywhere.

"Oh, crap, sorry!" Judai hurriedly apologizes, cursing himself for being so _stupid_, because now he's definitely going to be later than expected for their duel. He scrambles around on the ground trying to pick up the things that he knocked down, but he doesn't realize what they are until he reads the text on one of them, and his eyes widen: it's in English, and it's –

"Whoa, this is a synchro monster!" Judai exclaims excitedly, because he's never actually seen one in person before, and only after he realizes it's a synchro monster does he realize it's a _duel monster_, and for the first time, he looks up to see who he ran into, his face lit with awe. "I didn't realize anyone else at this school even knew what Duel Monsters _was_!"

While Judai's crouching, the guy in front of him is obviously taller, but as Judai comes to stand he finds that they're roughly the same height. He's got dark black hair that looks like it's been straightened, but it's standing up at odd ends because the job either wasn't done properly or the hair is fighting back. With furrowed eyebrows, his indigo eyes look back at Judai along with a neutral expression that transforms to surprise at Judai's mention of Duel Monsters; his uniform is a little worn, and it isn't pressed or buttoned up so he looks unkempt and generally untidy, which is strange for a second year (something Judai notices because of the color of his tie).

The second year's lips are slightly parted. "You play?" he asks.

Judai, his prior appointment completely swept from his mind, says, simply, "Whoa." The second year nods in agreement.

Judai sticks out his hand. "Call me Judai! I run a hero deck!"

The second year grins and shakes Judai's hand. "Fudo Yusei. Junk deck. Are you busy tomorrow afternoon? We should have a duel."

"Fudo?" exclaims Judai excitedly, jumping about a foot in the air. Is fate on his side today, or what? "I've heard of you! Fudo-senpai?"

Yusei's surprised at Judai's sudden liveliness at recognizing him – not that Judai wasn't lively before. It's just a little different than Yusei's used to; there's a certain fire in Judai, like a ball of energy that erupts at odd moments, while Yusei was quite the opposite. It was plain as day that Yusei was of the calmer sort.

"Yeah," Yusei confirms, looking wearily at a teacher that's just passed by with a disapproving look at their loitering. "You've heard of me?"

Judai's grin is only getting wider by the moment, and he says, "Yeah! And I think you can help me with something, actually, because I don't want to—" Judai cuts himself off mid-sentence as something registers in his mind, and he looks down at his watch and mutters, "_Crap_." It's almost been twenty minutes since school ended now, and Asuka's probably been waiting for him for over half-an-hour now. He clasps a hand to his forehead in declaration of his stupidity and hurriedly apologizes to Yusei, tells him he'll see him later, and rushes off, forgetting his shoes again.

* * *

><p>Judai's parents have always said that he's a spacey boy, and Asuka often wonders aloud how he manages to do anything right. They all have good reason for their opinions on Judai's state of mind, something which is easily evidenced by his state the next day of class. After assembly, Judai marches to the last seat in the corner of the room and finds that Daitokuji-sensei didn't have his chair fixed, after all – it still wobbles. Judai's about to switch it with Yuko-kun's (he's still not present), but as it turns out, that one is lopsided, too. Judai sighs and sits down, ponders his defeat to Asuka yesterday while watching the bird out in the courtyard, as he's fortunate enough to have the window seat.<p>

For most of the class period, Judai is quiet and thoughtful. He goes over the duel in his head over and over, wonders how he could've brought about a reversal. No one has anything to say against him until about an hour into class, when Judai's thoughts come to a sudden, screeching halt and a feeling like a train wreck settles into his heart, as Judai blurts out, "_Damn_! I should've played Fusion Gate!"

Several of the students (including those that attended primary school with him) have come to the conclusion by now that it was best to ignore Judai's sporadic interruptions, but others haven't yet made this crucial decision. Edo Phoenix's sigh is audible above of the whispers. Daitokuji-sensei is still kind with Judai and asks him nicely to mind his language and please pay attention in class. Naturally, Judai doesn't.

Come lunchtime, Judai takes out his deck again, and that's when, finally, the events of the previous day that didn't involve him losing his third duel in a row came back to him. There's a group of girls beside him this time talking about upperclassmen and what they'd rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. One of the girls splutters, "F-Fudo-senpai gets a perfect score!"

Fudo Yusei! Judai forgot all about him! He runs over the day before in his head again, his chance encounter with someone else in Kazuki who not only knew of Duel Monsters's existence, but also played it. But that isn't all – doesn't Fudo Yusei also know the answer to one of Judai's problems?

Just as Judai's pondering this, Daitokuji-sensei appears over his shoulder, as though he can read Judai's mind. "Yuki-kun," the teacher says, tapping Judai's shoulder and frowning, "You've only got one more day to decide a club, or else I'll have to call your parents." He looks sad, like he's disappointed in Judai and really doesn't want to call anyone so early in the year.

Judai tilts his head curiously. He asks, "Sensei, are you sure I _have _to be in a club?"

"Not this again, Yuki-kun. Yes, you _must_ be in a club. It's required that all students be part of some sort of afterschool activity."

"What about Fudo-senpai?"

Daitokuji-sensei sighs and pushes up his glasses. "Yuki-kun…"

"Sensei, isn't it true that Fudo-senpai isn't in a club?" prods Judai.

"Fudo-kun is a special case. Please stop trying to get around this," he says firmly, and with Daitokuji-sensei walks away and the conversation is over.

* * *

><p>But that doesn't stop Judai. He's determined to find out how Yusei surpasses the school's system, and after classes on his third day of school, instead of finding a club he sets out in search of the upperclassmen. He wants to duel him, anyway. Judai looks through the hallways and classrooms upstairs, but he doesn't find Yusei anywhere; it isn't until he heads to the lockers where they keep their shoes does he find him standing in the back, switching from his indoor to his outdoor wear.<p>

"Fudo-senpai!" Judai calls, waving to the figure at the back of the room. "I've been looking for you!"

Yusei looks up at Judai's sudden appearance and nods, smiles a little. Judai gets the feeling that Yusei doesn't smile all that often, because he seems the stoic. "Hi, Judai. Call me Yusei."

Judai shakes his head and asks, "Fu—uh, Yusei, are you in a club?" He knows the answer already, of course, but feels it polite to ask first.

Yusei's curious of his curiosity, but he nods. "I'm not."

"How?"

"Hm?"

Yusei closes his locker and grabs his bag, which is noticeably small compared to Judai's. He pulls on the strap and pulls out his deck (Judai recognizes it from yesterday), takes out a few of the cards to look through them. Judai watches interestedly and they fall into step on their way out of the room and the school.

"I heard a few people say that you're not in a club, even though it's required," Judai tells him, and he adds, sheepishly, "I was wondering how you get away with that…"

"I have to work," Yusei says matter-of-factly. "So I don't have time for an afterschool activity."

"_Work_?" The word sounds foreign to Judai; he's never even thought of getting a job. His life is mostly set up with a kind of eternal youth that he doesn't want to shed, and besides, he's still a student. He's heard of students getting jobs before – in fact, Manjoume works a tea shop Judai's mother frequents – but… it's just never occurred to Judai. Working isn't really something he does. Even in school, he's fortunate enough to be quick enough a learner that an hour's cramming will last him through an exam.

All in all, Judai's a fortunate kid.

Yusei stops walking and pauses in going through his deck. "Yeah," he says, "I've got a job at the car shop down the street. Normally Kazuki doesn't allow jobs and requires clubs, but I'm an orphan here on a scholarship, anyway – so they made an exception." He shrugs like it's not something secretive or special. Judai suddenly feels as though his reasons for wanting to skip clubs are selfish and a little stupid. Especially when Yusei turns to him with arched eyebrows, and asks with an amused smile, "Why are you so eager to skip out?"

"Um," says Judai, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"You don't have to tell me," Yusei says, noticing he's made Judai uncomfortable. He looks to his deck and back to Judai. "So, anyway, how about that duel?"

* * *

><p>The fourth day of school is a Thursday, which means that Judai has only one more day to join a club. He still doesn't want to, of course; today, he doesn't even plan on finding one he likes. Instead, he's taking Yusei to the café to meet his other friends – Yusei doesn't have that many friends, and none of them play Duel Monsters, so Yusei mostly collects and plays online. When Judai suggested taking him the day before, Yusei's excitement couldn't have been clearer. Daitokuji-sensei tries to remind Judai before he leaves class, but it doesn't work. Yusei's waiting for Judai at the locker room, and it couldn't be more obvious that he's been looking forward to this all day.<p>

* * *

><p>"Yuki-kun."<p>

"Huhmawhat?"

"_Yuki-kun_."

Judai should really have settled in by the fifth day of school, but that isn't so, and it doesn't look like it ever will be, at the rate he's going. In the middle of his lecture about the variety of mythologies that they'll be covering this year, Daitokuji-sensei catches Judai asleep with a poorly drawn mask on a paper taped to his head as his only disguise. Judai wakes up with a start when Yuko-kun, who's finally decided to show up, pokes him with his mechanical pencil.

"I summon Elemental Hero, Featherman!" Judai exclaims upon being woken up. No one is laughing at his lack of seriousness, and even Daitokuji-sensei looks more angry than upset. Edo Phoenix, forever the critic, lets out a _hmph_.

"Yuki-kun, about that club?" Daitokuji-sensei asks wearily, knowing that there's no point in asking Judai to pay attention by now. It's a wonder that Judai managed to get into the school, but it isn't up to the teacher to keep the unwilling student in class. If Judai thinks he can manage, then it's up to him.

Judai gulps. "Um."

No one is surprised.

"…I guess I'll join the Cooking Club," Judai says brightly. "Free food!"

"Yuki-kun, it doesn't work that way," says Daitokuji-sensei tiredly, but he returns to teaching his class anyway.

Whatever, thinks Judai. It's not like he'll show up, anyway – Yusei wants to show Judai his car shop in return for the café after school today, and next week Shou's older brother is hosting a backstreet duel tournament, and there's no way Judai's missing that.


End file.
